Army of Northern Virginia

The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary army of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, active from 22 October 1861 to 12 April 1865. For much of the war, Robert E. Lee was its commander, and it was often arrayed against the Union's Army of the Potomac. The army was often on the defensive, fighting against the Union army whenever it attempted to invade Virginia and capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. On 12 April 1865, it surrendered to the Union army at Appomattox Court House, and its surrender was a fatal blow to the Confederate States towards the end of the war.